The Antonym of Assurance
by Frathworth and Butts
Summary: Crack-Au. It's halfway into the game against the Leviathans and Dean worries about his not-quite-alright team mates. One shot. Warnings: Coarse Language.


**Title:** The Antonym of Assurance  
><strong>Word count:<strong> 1,238  
><strong>Pairing:<strong> Gen, but if you want to put slash goggles on, go ahead.  
><strong>Characters:<strong> Dean Winchester, Sam Winchester, Castiel. Mentions of Bobby, Garth and "Leviathans".  
><strong>Summary: <strong>It's halfway into the game against the Leviathans and Dean worries about his not-quite-alright team mates. One shot.  
><strong>Rating: <strong>PG-13/T (mild coarse language only)  
><strong>Warnings:<strong> Extreme AU, crack idea thing which jumped me from no-where and wouldn't go away. Light references to football, no pre-knowledge needed.

Dean was really starting to worry about the second half of the game. Not only was Bobby, his best linebacker, out cold in the break room with the medical staff and Cas, one of the running backs, had to be put on the bench in the beginning of the game because of an old injury acting up, now Sam was showing signs of breaking down too.

It had been a though set of plays, he could admit that, but he was really counting on Sam to pull through now. He was the only _good_ player left in the team. Coach Gamble had been dropping players left, right and center since good 'ol Kripke left, Sam often suggested she was "cleansing" the team from the original set-up, aka throwing the talents they had under the bus and introducing new ones who really should consider a career change.

Dean sighed gravely and drank some water from his sports flask, finishing by pouring some over his head to cool off. How was he supposed to throw a ball to a wide receiver who, despite his height, was built like a twig and had no coordination what so ever? No, Garth was really a weak link in their offence, he simply had to trust Sam could pull through and be his runner. No one else could do this. No one else was capable enough to stand the onslaught of the opposing team.

"Sam better be fine.." Dean muttered as he stood up from the bench he sat on and walked out of the locker room. The probability of success of every play he tried was dwindling and soon it would be a miracle if they could even keep the ball. They had managed to gain a few yards and they hadn't lost the ball_ yet_, though now with Bobby out cold their defence was mediocre at best.

"Sam!" Dean had rejoined his team mates on the field and was actively looking for his brother, twisting his head this way and that in search of the Sasquatch.

He found his giant of a brother sitting next to a slumped Cas on the benches off to the side, rubbing the desolate runner on the shoulder as he'd practically folded in two and rested his head in his hands breathing deeply.

"Dude, just breathe.. We can do this. You said the pain had mostly passed now. We wont make you run if you feel like shit Cas. We're desperate yeah, but not cruel." _Trust Sam to give the encouraging speeches to the despairing team_, Dean thought with a small chuckle as he approached the two men.

"Sammy! You ready for the next half?" Sam whipped his head towards Dean with a faint look of surprise and smirked as he rubbed his hair.

"Hell yeah, dude. Can't wait to be turned into a Turducken blob of goo." Sam threw his patented _Bitch Face #12_; _"Really? Really Dean? Have you seen the situation we're in?"_  
>"I'm just checking if Cas is ready to play and save us from a bloody demise." Sam glanced at Cas with that and bumped him a little in the side with his shoulder.<p>

Cas straightened a bit from his position of defeat and looked crestfallen into Dean's eyes as he rubbed his sweaty face with one hand, the other resting on his knee.

"I'm sorry Dean.. I'm.. I'm not ready yet." He sighed and slumped further down over his knees, pressing the heel of his palm into his eye, rubbing it in slow circles.

Dean took a breath and collected himself. He grasped Cas' shoulder, squeezed it a bit and gently pushed it.

"Hey, don't kill yourself over it Cas." Cas' startled eyes found his and the look of befuddlement on his face made Dean smile.

"Sam and I'll knock them around good, don't ya worry 'bout it." He released Cas' shoulder as the other heaved a sigh in relief.

"Soon." He said in his gravely voice. "Give me a few more minutes and I'll be ready for the next play." The smile Cas sent him gave Dean a small sparkle of hope.

Dean shook his head as he chuckled, unable to fully understand the complete faith Cas had in his Captain. He offered his fist to Cas who dutifully bumped it, ending the motion with a wiggle of their fingers. Sam laughed and rose from the bench he had been trying to fit his Moose-body on for the last 10 minutes.

"On the field Dean, in five." He said with a slap on his brothers back as he passed by.

Dean joined Cas on the bench, keeping his gaze fixed on the back of his brothers head.

"How's he holding up?" He quickly glanced at Cas and then went back to observing Sam.

Cas groaned a bit as he adjusted his position, trying to get more comfortable on the wooden surface but failing.

"Not sure. He had a small episode of staring off into space after he joined me. It could have been exhaustion though." Cas peered up at Dean from beneath his eyebrows and shrugged. "Has he mentioned anything more to you?"

Dean frowned and looked down at his hands which were fiddling with a string of leather he'd kept with him since their first win. "No, nothing else. Just the absent-mindedness and the faraway looks. ...I'm worried about him." He squeezed the string tightly in his hand.

Cas looked at Deans hands and then flicked his gaze up to his face where faint worry-lines were showing on the freckled skin of his forehead. He sighed and bumped his shoulder against Dean. "He'll come through Dean. I have faith he'll manage this somehow. At least he knows when to ask for help as opposed to some people I know..."

Dean whipped his head up and stared at Cas, eyeing the twitching of the corner of his mouth, he continued to stare with his grumpiest expression until Cas broke out into a smile and chuckled.

"You dick.." Dean laughed as he lightly punched Cas' shoulder and then he too rose from the bench to rejoin the field team.

"_DEAN! FIELD! NOW!_" Sam's roar could almost be heard from the other side of the arena. Dean put a finger in his ear and wiggled it around.

"Nothing wrong with his lungs so far.." He started jogging back to the other team members and waved back at Cas after a few steps.

Cas eyed the opposing team on the other side with dark eyes. A game with The Leviathans could only end in tears. He knew. He had met them when he had played in his former team and it had practically been a massacre. He still felt guilty about being the only one to come out of it with minimal damage, his brothers suffering the worst of it.

_Be careful out there Dean.. I can't protect you anymore,_ he thought as he closed his eyes and started to center himself in order to join his team on the field in the end-game.

The smell of freshly mowed grass filled his nostrils and he inhaled deeply, feeling his center becoming stronger with his determination. Even if the Coach was way off with the plays and player position, he knew Dean would somehow make it work.

They'd win.

He could feel it in his core.

He had nothing but faith left.

Faith in Dean.


End file.
